{"schema_version": 1, "id": "sumter-sc-msa/information-technology/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 419, "label": "Sumter, SC MSA", "slug": "sumter-sc-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T03:35:54.542882+00:00", "headline": "Sumter IT pay climbs as the labor pool quietly shrinks.", "headline_summary": "Sumter's unemployment rate fell to 4.8% even as nonfarm payrolls dropped 1.8% year-over-year, while local Cybersecurity Analyst pay ($118,625) now exceeds the national median ($107,327).", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Sumter unemployment rate", "value": "4.8%", "context": "Down from 5.4% in June; SC statewide rate 4.0%"}, {"label": "Sumter nonfarm employment", "value": "37,500", "context": "Down 700 jobs (-1.8%) year-over-year"}, {"label": "Sumter avg weekly wage", "value": "$944.46", "context": "Up 1.1% monthly, roughly flat annually"}, {"label": "SC data center investment pipeline", "value": "$6B+", "context": "Google, Meta, Valara projects across SC counties"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Sumter's job count is shrinking even as unemployment falls.", "body": "A 700-job annual decline alongside a dropping unemployment rate points to workforce exit \u2014 fewer people may be seeking work in Sumter County at all. IT leaders hiring locally should treat low unemployment readings with caution; they may reflect a shrinking labor pool that makes recruiting harder, not easier."}, {"headline": "Systems Administrator pay is climbing fastest among local IT roles.", "body": "Metro advertised pay for Systems Administrators rose significantly to $93,378, trailing the $102,503 national median but closing the gap faster than other roles tracked. That signals employers are paying up to retain infrastructure staff and avoid losing them to the state's data center build-out."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity pay in Sumter now exceeds the national figure.", "body": "Advertised Cybersecurity Analyst pay locally sits at $118,625 against a $107,327 national median \u2014 an unusual premium for a secondary metro. This likely reflects thin local supply, and warrants closer benchmarking before assuming it reflects a stable market rate."}, {"headline": "Help Desk and IT Project Manager pay softened this month.", "body": "Both roles moved down moderately in advertised pay ($49,618 and $115,690 respectively), consistent with national patterns where entry-level and coordination roles see less wage pressure than specialized infrastructure and security positions. Headcount planning should account for this bifurcation \u2014 generalist roles face less upward pay pressure than technical specialists."}], "local_conditions": "Sumter's unemployment rate fell to 4.8% in September, a 0.6-point monthly drop, yet nonfarm employment still sits 700 jobs (-1.8%) below year-ago levels at 37,500 \u2014 a market tightening on paper while shrinking in absolute terms. Manufacturing-driven wage gains ($944.46 average weekly wage, up 1.1% monthly) and statewide data center investment exceeding $6 billion across Dorchester, Spartanburg and other SC counties are pulling infrastructure and technical talent toward better-funded metros, leaving Sumter employers competing against a widening in-state pay gradient.", "implications": "Falling headcount alongside falling unemployment suggests Sumter's labor pool is shrinking, which complicates any plan to backfill infrastructure or support roles locally at current advertised rates. Statewide data center buildout is pulling network and systems talent toward Charleston, Dorchester and Spartanburg, where compensation ceilings are rising faster \u2014 Sumter-based IT functions may need to lean more heavily on managed services or remote hybrid arrangements for specialized roles, since competing head-on for scarce local candidates will grow harder. Consider evaluating which infrastructure and security functions could shift to regional outsourcing partners given the compensation gap opening between Sumter and SC's data center corridor.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Watch whether Sumter's shrinking nonfarm employment count stabilizes or continues declining through year-end. Continued contraction alongside falling unemployment would confirm labor force exit, changing the calculus for local hiring versus remote or outsourced staffing."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "South Carolina's data center corridor (Dorchester, Spartanburg, Berkeley counties) is drawing infrastructure and network talent with compensation well above Sumter's reach. Monitor whether local systems administrator and network engineer postings, measured by job ads, which track demand and often cover several openings each, require longer time-to-fill or repeated pay increases to close."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Statewide information-sector job losses (2,300 annually) contrast with healthcare and manufacturing gains in Sumter specifically. If information-sector layoffs elsewhere in SC release technical talent, watch whether any enters the Sumter candidate pool given lower cost of living relative to Charleston or Greenville."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National AI-related job postings now exceed 7% of all postings, well past 2022's peak, while mid-level AI engineer pay grew 9.2% this year. Sumter organizations building any AI or automation capability should expect to compete against national specialty premiums even for hybrid or remote-eligible roles."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 105969.0, "metro_p50": 136514.0, "metro_p75": 160013.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 145881.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Systems Administrator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 82108.0, "metro_p50": 93378.0, "metro_p75": 102581.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 102503.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Network Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 85896.0, "metro_p50": 106310.0, "metro_p75": 109835.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 115757.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 118103.0, "metro_p50": 153192.2, "metro_p75": 170000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 154403.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Help Desk/IT Support Specialist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 39843.0, "metro_p50": 49618.0, "metro_p75": 53826.25, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 53129.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Cybersecurity Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 95338.0, "metro_p50": 118624.8, "metro_p75": 124443.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 107327.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "IT Project Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 110759.0, "metro_p50": 115690.0, "metro_p75": 115690.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 118149.8, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "SC Department of Employment and Workforce", "source_url": null, "statement": "Sumter MSA unemployment rate fell to 4.8% in September 2026"}, {"source_name": "SC Department of Employment and Workforce", "source_url": null, "statement": "Sumter MSA nonfarm employment at 37,500, down 700 jobs year-over-year"}, {"source_name": "South Carolina IT labor market research notes", "source_url": null, "statement": "South Carolina data center investment including Google $3.3B and Meta $800M projects"}, {"source_name": "Robert Half 2026 Salary Guide", "source_url": null, "statement": "Average hourly earnings and AI-related wage growth trends"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Sumter average weekly wage of $944.46 in June 2026"}, {"source_name": "Indeed Hiring Lab", "source_url": null, "statement": "AI-related postings exceed 7% of all U.S. job postings"}], "methodology": "Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay.", "edition_label": "November 2026", "files": {"html": "sumter-sc-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "pdf": "sumter-sc-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:31:08.561245+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/sumter-sc-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/sumter-sc-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}